As a writer, I have become acutely aware of how difficult it can be for some writers to come up with covers for their ebooks. A lot of writers publish multiple ebooks every year. But a lot of them are also not graphic artists… so they need to hire other people to do this for them. Can you really make money designing ebook covers for writers?
In this post, we are going to discuss it!
Make Money Designing Ebook Covers
First off, why is this service needed? To put it simply, the Ebook market is thriving right now. Every year, more and more writers publish Ebooks.
They publish them on Amazon, but they also publish them on their own websites and in other places as well. In fact, many writers are publishing solely to ebook formats due to the lower cost of electronic publishing.
Not only are Ebooks becoming more popular among readers, but this allows them to be sold without added printing costs. Electronic books are virtually free to produce once the design work is done, and can be sold at a discounted rate for the same markup!
But here is the problem. A lot of artists struggle to come up with book covers that do their books justice. Often, new writers need to make due either with an inexpensive graphic artist… or even worse, they have to try to design the book cover themselves. This can result in a sub-par cover that simply does not look as good as it should.
This leads to lower sales of the Ebook, and hurts the author’s success. Realistically, having a good cover is essential for anyone who wants to make money selling Ebooks.
So, if you are actually a graphic artist with an interest in book-cover design, there is a LOT of money to be made designing book covers for independent authors… especially book covers for ebooks.
That is the side hustle.
How Much Money Can You Make Designing Covers For Ebooks?
Ebook cover designs generally range in price from $25 at the very least, to $100 or more at the most. It is also usually more expensive to get the back cover and spine designed (for physical books).
Keep in mind that $25 is INSANELY CHEAP for a book cover! If you are good at what you do, you can easily command $100 for an ebook cover, especially if you are a professional who is good at your craft. Plus, the more work you’ve done for people, the better prices you will be able to command for your services.
In this industry, knowing the right people is the key! If you do a really good job for an author, there is a very good chance that they will come back to you in the future.
There are some firms and professional designers who charge $300 or more for services like this… and they do get a lot of business. But it may take some marketing to get you to that point in the game. You would need to have excellent references, excellent examples of your work, and professional-grade tools and skills to demand that kind of money for your services.
But… this is also a level that is absolutely attainable!
Where Can You Find Clients For This Side Hustle?
The first and most obvious place to look for clients for this type of side-hustle (especially at first) would be Fiverr.com. Of course, Fiverr.com has some limitations, and there is a lot of competition on the site. But… other good news is that a lot of people actually look for Ebook cover design here… so there is also a lot of traffic.
This is probably the most obvious, and useful, first step toward achieving this side hustle and finding clients willing to pay for your services.
To succeed on Fiverr.com, you always want to do a good job when you do get clients, and make sure to keep your profile updated and attractive. A nice profile is half the battle on this website!
You could diversify too and offer other services on Fiverr.com, like logo design.
Upwork.com is another obvious place to find work as a freelance ebook cover designer. On this site, you can browse jobs in the selected category and bid on them. A basic profile is free, but you may have to end up paying for a better membership if you do a lot of work on-site.
The good news is that Upwork is a huge freelancing community with plenty of opportunity. The bad news is that it is also pretty competitive, so you’ll have to bring your A-game if you wish to compete with established freelancers.
Getting the first couple of jobs on Upwork is the hardest part. Once you get some good feedback built up, you shouldn’t have a problem finding better and better jobs!
And of course, you could also build your own website and advertise your own services. If you optimize your site, start a Youtube channel, and make use of social media, you may even be able to build your own customer base.
But keep in mind that this route is a bit more long-term. It can take a while to see results using this method… though in the end, this will also probably yield the best results. So if you plan to take this side hustle seriously and to stick with it, I would absolutely recommend that you start working on your own site and marketing yourself that way.
You can do that in conjunction with Fiverr.com and Upwork.com to find work while also building your own brand/business. This would give you the best long-term outlook for success.
What Would You Need To Start This Side Hustle?
If you really want to design ebook covers as a side hustle, you’re going to need…
- A computer or tablet that you can do design work on
- Design software
- The creative inspiration to be able to design ebook covers for a wide variety of different styles of books
You can choose to specialize in this niche if you want. If you do, you can sometimes command a better rate after a while, as you will get really good and gain a much better reputation in a particular niche. You could, for example, specialize in romance novels, or fantasy novels, or self-help books, etc.
So while it is not a requirement to specialize, it is actually recommended… especially once you’ve tried a bit of everything and found out what you like the best.
With so many ebooks needing covers every year, there is certainly no shortage of work… even if you do focus on one specific genre or niche.
My Personal Feelings About Designing Ebook Covers As A Side Hustle
This is probably not a side hustle for everyone, mostly due to the fact that not everyone is a strong graphic artist. I love the idea of this side hustle… but I also know, for a fact, that it is not a good side hustle option for me.
Why?
I just don’t have the ‘keen eye’ for graphic work that this enterprise would require. Yes, I could learn… but I am just so much more likely to write ebooks that it seems like I would be better suited to focus on that strength.
But that is also a completely personal choice! I truly feel like this is a side hustle that anyone could get into with enough practice and dedication.
It really comes down to what you love to do. Usually, if you have a love for something, you will be far more likely to succeed at it. I love writing a lot more than I love graphic design, so it makes sense for me to specialize in it.
And therein lies another important thing to understand about side hustles. They require consistent dedication to succeed. Some people spend a week or two on each side hustle idea they get, only to give up when things don’t go the way they planned. When I was younger, I started quite a few side hustles like this. When they didn’t earn any money in the first couple of weeks, I would just abandon them.
But I have since learned better, and I feel like a lot of people would stand to make more money if they stuck with the things they loved and didn’t give up on them.
So… if you have a passion for graphic design and book covers, this could absolutely be a side hustle that would benefit you.
You may not get rich, or even make a ton of money right away. But also, it would take time to develop your skills and a client base. If you could snag just 10 ebook writers who release 2 or 3 books a year as clients, you could easily make pretty good side-hustle cash with this… especially if you continued to improve and get better at it!
You might also take your design skills and apply them to other areas, such as designing band merch or designing menus for local restaurants.
Our Final Opinion Of Designing Ebook Covers
Should you try to make money designing Ebook covers as a side hustle?
There are a lot of ways to make money online. Some are good, some not, but ALL of them are still just trading hours for dollars.
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